As I was out for a walk today I started to calculate in my head whether the investment was worth it over these last seven years. Although there's no way to put a dollar value on the enjoyment we got out of the trailer, there is a way to rationalize the rest.
Here's a "back of the envelope" calculation on what it's cost:
- Initial cost was $41,000 and I'm selling it for $30,000 = $11,000
- Insurance and maintenance: Approximately $1500/year = $10,500
- Plus I could have made money with the initial investment - let's say 3% conservatively = $9000
- Storage costs about $70/month averaged over the time = $6300
- So I had the trailer for about 7.5 years, and spent about 300 nights in it.
Just looking at the initial numbers, $11,000 for 300 nights works out to $37/night - not too bad!
But when you factor in everything else, it's $36,800 spread over those same 300 nights (and 300 nights is a bit optimistic, but we did live in the thing for 6 months) it works out to $123/night.
When you factor in the average $30/night we spent at campgrounds (sometimes more, sometimes less) when staying in the trailer, it's now $153/night.
I'll have to remind myself of this post next time I'm looking to buy an RV.....
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